Rotating nylon belt cutter



ROTATING NYLON BELT CUTTER Filed July 19, 1955 INVENTOR. ja l y A. oynal n/ United States Patent 2,771,534 ROTATING NYLON BELT CUTTER JosephL. Schwahn, Philadelphia, Pa. Application July 19, 1955, Serial No.523,131

1 Claim. (Cl. 219-29) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec.266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by orfor the Government of the United States of America for governmentalpurposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to improvements in cutting bolts of cloth tospecific lengths. More specifically it relates to an automatic machinewhich cuts synthetic materials, such as nylon parachute belting, to aspecified length automatically.

An object of this invention therefore is a machine which automaticallycuts webbing material to certain prescribed sizes.

A further object of this invention is an automatic device which fusesthe ends of the material automatically cut on the machine.

Another object of this invention is a cutting device which is simple tomaintain and which does not require sharpening as the result ofcontinued use.

Still other objects, advantages and improvements will be apparent from aconsideration of the following description, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an end view of the cutting device, and

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along section 22 of Figure 1.

In nylon parachute making, the webbing to date has been cut and fusedmanually. This invention intends to eliminate the manual process andsubstitute therefor a machine which automatically performs thisoperation and also automatically cuts the webbing to the prescribedlength.

In the drawings, a pair of rollers 1, 2 are mounted on shafts 7, 8,which shafts are geared through gearing 22, 23 to synchronize therotation of the two drums and shafts. Motor 19 drives one of the shaftsthrough conventional gearing 17, 18.

Indented on drum 1 are two wells 3, 4 (roller 2 has a pair of similarwells 20, 6), wells 3, 4 containing a pair fo posts such as 9, 10 (Fig.2). Strung between the posts is a heating wire 21. Copper plates 11, 12are fastened, one on each end of the drum 1, and form end plate membersfor the drum.

Needle points 13, 14 are mounted on drum 2, which points serve to pullthe webbing or other synthetic fabric 15, through the two rolls.

The design of the rolls is such that the outer periphery or portionsthereof conform to the length of fabric to be cut. In the particularcase at hand, two cutting wires on drum 1 are shown, consequentlyone-half of the outer periphery of the drum is the desired length of cutof fabric. Obviously more or less than two wires can be used dependingupon the initial diameter of the drum and the length of cut fabricdesired.

The operation of the device is as follows: The drums are rotated at thedesired rate of speed by the motor 19 and the reduction gearing whilegears 22, 23 insure that synchronous rotary motion of the drums isobtained. The synthtic material webbing is fed between the rollers withthe aid of pins 13, 14 which grab the fabric on rotation of drum 2.

One of the wires, for example, wire 21 engages the material adjacent thewell 20 on drum 2. The wire 21 is heated by a curent fed from the endplates and through the posts 9 and 10. The heat from the wire togetherwith the thinness of the wire cuts the webbing upon further rotation ofthe drums as the wire further enters its mating well 20. The length offabric cut off is determined of course by the diameter of the drums.

The action of the heated wire not only severs the length of piecerequired but also fuses the end of the material so that the piece cut isready for further operations.

Although the electrical circuit is shown in simple form, it isunderstood that conventional transformers, brushes, etc. are used toconduct the proper degree of power to the end plates of drum 1.

The electrical connection from the wire to the plates may be also ofvarious forms. The post itself may act as an electrical conductor or maybe merely a fastening means through which the heating wire is passedbefore attachment of the wire to the copper plates.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

A cutting device for cutting a synthetic belting material in specifiedlengths comprising a pair of closely spaced drums mounted on separateshafts, means to rotate one of said drums, synchronizing meshing gearmeans mounted on said shafts to thereby rotate the drums at the samespeed, a plurality of longitudinal wells set into the periphery of oneof the drums, a similar plurality of mating longitudinal wells set intothe periphery of the other of said drums, a heating wire mounted in eachof the wells of the one of said drums, at set of copper end platesmounted on the ends of the one of said drums, said plates connected toan electrical source and to the terminals of said wires, a plurality ofpins mounted on the periphery of the other of said drums, rotation ofsaid drums causing said belting to pass between the drums with the pinsengaging said belting and aiding the drums to pass said belting betweenthe drums and said wire heated by the electrical current passedtherethrough cutting and fusing the belting on its travel through thedrums.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS751,527 Marr Feb. 9, 1904 2,202,110 Maurer May 28, 1940 2,232,640Schwartzman Feb. 18, 1941 2,242,645 Frost May 20, 1941 2,589,777 CollinsMar. 18, 1952 2,621,705 Nye et al Dec. 16, 1952 2,625,201 Smith Jan. 13,1953 2,627,893 Williams Feb. 10, 1953 Patented Nov. 20, 1956'-

